Fans of Doraemon wanting to see video of the robot cat in 3-D for the first time will have to travel to the Shanghai World Expo in June.

The short 3-D clip will be part of efforts to woo fans in China as Japan seeks to export its pop culture to emerging and other overseas markets.

The Japan International Contents Festival, or CoFesta, will run in Shanghai from June 12 to 23 and feature popular Japanese models, "anime" and pop singers like Juju, Yo Hitoto and Kimaguren.

From video games and "manga" (comic books) to quirky "kawaii" fashion, Japanese pop culture already has a global following, but foreign sales actually only account for a small percentage of total sales.

"As domestic demand dwindles and we look to expand abroad, we need to improve our conventional business model and framework," an official at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.

According to the official, Japan has been unable to profit significantly from sales of its pop content abroad because much is exported indirectly through agents and other international channels.

CoFesta, which began in 2007, is part of a METI initiative to showcase a range of content at home and abroad to attract more buyers and encourage cross-border collaboration, which is already under way in the realm of film.

China will be the fourth overseas CoFesta venue after France, Singapore and Brazil.

"Information has been flooding into Shanghai," CoFesta Executive Producer Yutaka Shigenobu said. "It will provide a great outlet to display Japanese content."

The logo for the 12-day CoFesta event was designed by art director Kashiwa Sato, known internationally for his work with Fast Retailing Co.'s Uniqlo casual clothing store in New York.

In addition to the Doraemon clip, the event will feature 3-D games for Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 console and a short 3-D movie.

Visitors to CoFesta events including animation and film festivals topped 1 million in 2009, up 25 percent from its opening year, and the government's longer-term strategy to beef up the content industry is even more ambitious.

According to a report released by METI in mid-May, Japan will aim to raise its ratio of overseas content sales from a mere 5 percent in 2008 to 12 percent by 2020.

Overseas revenue is meanwhile expected to climb from ¥700 billion to ¥2.3 trillion over the same period.

"We need to consider targeting emerging markets," the METI official said, adding the next CoFesta venue has not been decided yet.

Shigenobu, also chairman of TV Man Union Inc., a TV production company, appears unfazed by the bold targets.

"We have few resources, but I think Japanese aesthetics is our real resource," he said. "We should be confident about this."﻿